This blog exists because of my loving wife, Aliera, and best friend (his words), Greg Miller. My entire life I wanted to cover video games professionally. My goal at six was to don the mantle of Sushi X, a mysterious reviewer for Electronic Gaming Monthly. I mentioned this to my mom; she shook her head and said I should find a reasonable job. I would bring up the idea of games journalism as a dream job but teachers, friends and colleagues indicated that it wasn’t likely. Well, that was that. Dreams crushed. I went to college, started a job in finance and my only contribution to the industry was purchasing content.

I started listening to Podcast Beyond around 160 and anytime someone asked how to break into the industry Miller would respond “all you have to do is write every day.” I thought it was great advice for all the kids out there in school and trying to break into the field. I was going to reconcile dividends, continue playing games and not think twice.

I wouldn’t consider myself slow, but it took years of encouragement from my understanding wife as well as Miller screaming in my ear week after week before I realized that I didn’t need to work at IGN to start writing about games. It wasn’t the first time Miller offered this advice to a listener but one time it finally clicked “this is the best time to break into the industry. You can start filming yourself, writing what you want and just creating content. Don’t care about views, likes or anything else except for honing your craft.”

I owned a keyboard, semi-reliable Comcast internet connection and twenty-five years of gaming experience. Holy Sh*t! I already possessed everything necessary to start covering video games. I wrote my first piece, sent it to my wife who was thrilled that I was creating something for the first time since college. I thought it was only going to be once and awhile thing, but Aliera had other plans. She fanned the spark of creativity: helped brainstorm the blog name, setup a Wordpress account, purchased a domain, found a template and practically forced me to start a new ongoing hobby. I was thrilled every step of the way!

Greg Miller provided something I didn’t realize I needed, a role model. His tale of rejection from IGN thirteen times before being hired, devotion to his craft, honest feedback and warm personality helped me understand that this was a sector of the industry that wasn’t closed off. It didn’t matter if only you, myself and the spam-bots read this post…I was still contributing to the conversation.

Miller is always courteous to fans, willing to kneel down for a selfie, approve 1,000 friend requests manually or respond to thousands of comments. He doesn’t put on airs and is just in the business because he is Greg Miller. He is unabashedly biased to the Playstation brand but never falls victim to fan boy blindness. Greg remains humble to his success and seems genuinely surprised to command the following he does. He is an excellent example for anyone covering games professionally or as a hobby.

Today, Greg creates Kinda Funny content which is worth your attention. Aliera supports me emotionally and creatively every day, is the lucky editor who always reads my posts first and fixes any comma splices. And I’m living my dream job; covering the industry, talking to fans, reviewing games and seeing my blogs on the front page of IGN.

Thank you Aliera, thank you Greg, you’ll always be my favorite IGN personality, and thank you, yes you, for reading! This is Sushi-X (no one else is using the nom de plume), until next time; Level Up Friends!

Christopher Peterson is an avid fan of all things relating to videogames, movies and television. He’s also a pretty awesome guy to know, just ask him. If you liked this post, check out all of his MyIGN blogs. For random thoughts follow @NerdEXP on Twitter.

The villain is a force that our hero must overcome, but the rival is an opponent they must outpace. When used effectively, a rival is not a bwahaha evildoer; instead they share the same goal as the protagonist. However, instead of joining forces (well sometimes they team-up in the end), the hero and rival are trying to accomplish the same task but are on different paths with different methods or motivations. This could because resources are limited, it’s a race to be first or they don’t want to share the glory.

Pokémon (Gen I) offers a great example of the difference between a rival and villain. Red, the player, wants to become a Pokémon master but so does Blue. They race through eight gym leaders, The Elite 4, and a dangerous land to become the very best, like no one was before. Team Rocket is the villain within the game as they turn Pokémon into slaves and attempt to rule the world. Red must defeat Team Rocket to save humanity. Red doesn’t need to beat Blue. Blue doesn’t have alternative motives or aspirations; he wants the same thing as Red. If Blue beats Red, nothing is materially different…just who is considered the best trainer. While it is imperative for our way of life that a villain is defeated, the battle between rivals is personal.

A rival is the hero of their own story. All things being equal, if situations were reversed, they would be the protagonist who the audience rooted for (and sometimes they still are). Rivals create a scenario where the hero needs to bring their “A-game” and push themselves to be the best version possible. The conflict between rivals can be the necessary edge a hero needs to defeat the true villain.

Let’s ignore the stories where Magneto tried to kill all of humanity for a second… Philosophical differences create a unique situation where close friends can become rivals. Xavier and Magneto seek to create a perfect society for mutants to exist; they just want to accomplish this through different tasks. Xavier wants peaceful cohabitation between humans and mutants. Magneto wishes for mutants to be left alone to create an environment where they can thrive without interference from humans. There are only a select few mutants available for both men to share their vision with and each dream cannot exist at the same time. This causes the once-friends to clash over the ideologies they so passionately believe and strive for. They’ll team up when a true villain like Apocalypse, William Striker, Sinister or the Sentinels arise, but they spend most times at odds with one another.

A well-constructed rival will challenge the hero while sharing their ambitions. A poorly created rival will just be villain-lite or simply a ruthless version of the protagonist. Not all stories require a rival, but they can create an interesting dynamic or alternative conflict the hero must overcome.

Which do you prefer, a rival or a villain? What examples of rivals who are more compelling antagonists than villain do you remember?

The inspiration for this post was provided by IShotYourFace. If you liked this post, check out all of his MyIGN blogs. For random thoughts follow @NerdEXP on Twitter.

What’s going on Internet? I’m Christopher Peterson from NerdEXP and my content calendar is not as full as it once was. After steady writing for the past seven months I find myself struggling with topics and the spark of creativity necessary to draft brilliant posts.

And that’s where you come in…

I would like you to assign me my next writing assignments. You call out the topic, and I’ll start the fingers flying furiously on the keyboard. You are my Perry White and I’m your Lois Lane (too spunky) Clark Kent (...that means I’m calling myself Superman and I’m not that vain) Ben Urich (yes, I realized I just crossed DC and Marvel).

Whatever crazy idea comes across your head, I’ll write it. Top 5 favorite animals saved in Emerald Hills. Done! Why I think the Wii U will outsell the PS4 and Xbox One combined...ummm...you’re the boss! What is the answer to life, the universe and everything in it? 42!

Think of this is a reverse Community Challenge. Instead of the community writing the same subject, I’m challenging the community to challenge me. I’m ready for you, mam and/or sir.

Legal Disclaimers

1) If I have no working knowledge of the subject, I won’t be able to create your dream article. So that piece on Top 10 most Controller Breaking Worthy Professor Layton Puzzles won’t be created. Sorry.

2) I will write a post on every suggestion provided in submitted order, with a minimum of three a week.

3) Eagle-eyed MyIGN Community members can find numerous posts where I told other members to “write what you care about most” and “follow your own path”...this is not me being hypocritical...it’s simulating a real-world journalism position where articles are sometimes assigned and not always chosen….(yeah, that logic holds up).

4) Thanks for reading all of these...normally people just jump to the comments section by now. You are Awesome!

Christopher Peterson is an avid fan of all things relating to videogames, movies and television. He’s also a pretty awesome guy to know, just ask him. If you liked this post, check out all of his MyIGN blogs. For random thoughts follow @NerdEXP on Twitter.

Television is a democracy. Citizens vote with their eyeballs glued to screens; deciding which shows continue and those that shall perish. The network, schedule, surrounding program and competition all factor into what will garner the attention of fans or what will consumed by the cancellation bear. Despite clever writing, stellar cast and good (for TV) special effects, sometimes the best shows don’t win this competition.The odds are not always in their favor, and sometimes a show that you or I might love loses due to being underrated (literally).

Television is nothing like democracy; Television is the Hunger Games.

Reaper

2007 | 31 Episodes

This series balanced freak-of-the-week episodes, with an overarching mythology while showcasing a charismatic cast. Bret Harrison (no stranger to short-lived shows) stars as Sam Oliver, an underperforming shlub whose parents sold his soul to the devil. Now Sam and his zany friends capture escaped souls in this supernatural, comedic, action-adventure series. The first season aired during the 2007 writer’s strike and was continually shuffled around. Despite great side characters and humorous interactions from the entire cast, this series was never able to find the necessary following. It is worth your time and unlike the other shows on this list, does offer a sense of closure during the second season (and series) finale.

Dark Angel

2000 | 42 Episodes (Only 20 Count)

Jessica Alba. There was a time when this movie star, who is able to excite fans into thinking Fantastic Four, Sin City or Good Luck Chuck areworth watching, was on the small screen. And even she couldn’t save this series. Dark Angel is set in a post-apocalyptic America where the government is militarized and is big brother from 1984 (it's a book, that I hope you read). Alba plays a genetically modified soldier, Max, who is trying to live under the radar...until she meets up with a radical organization that is bringing the truth to an oppressed population. Max struggles with her desire to stay safe, protect the innocent and bring down a corrupt government.

There is a second season…it is terrible and not worth watching. James Cameron was involved in the first but not the second. There are mutant cat people and bee-hive controlled soldiers. It is truly a parody of itself. I can only assume that the show was re-piloted due to a less than stellar reception.

Firefly

2002 | 14 Episodes

The greatest show ever created...and then quickly cancelled. Firefly is able to balance action, intrigue, romance, comedy with a cast of flawed characters that fans can’t help but love. And no one watched it when it aired. Not even me. Fox mishandled the episode order and rotated the viewing schedule to make watching the series like a shell game. The show lives on in Netflix and Hulu as a fan-favorite. Fans were able to gain a bit of closure with the movie Serenity but this series was too short lived. No space-western has a right to be this good, but Firefly ended up being a perfect blend of all genres and a charismatic show that everyone who watches will immediately love.

Fox bundled the cancellation of Firefly so much that when they optioned another Joss Whedon show, Dollhouse, they let it run two craptastic seasons to prove they gave it an honest go.

Kitchen Confidential

2005 | 13 Episodes

This series was ahead of its time. Before Waiting, there was Kitchen Confidential. Set in a new restaurant in New York, Jack Bourdain, played perfectly by Bradley Cooper, must hire, train and supervise a staff of misfits. Jack is a former 5-star womanizing chef who needs to find a new path in life…but as anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant business knows, that isn’t always possible. The series is hilarious and contains a robust cast of side characters whose careers continued to bloom after this show was cancelled.

Traffic Light

2011 | 13 Episodes

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a show with a guy who is married, one has a long term girlfriend and the other dates around. The premise is subpar but the execution is stellar. Traffic Light centers around three best friends at different stages of their lives, but they continually act like best friends in every scene. Their female counterparts are refreshingly integrated into the group’s antics and aren’t adversarial to the boys. Everyday mundane situations like driving, receiving a raise or camping are always entertaining and oftentimes laugh out loud within this series.

Christopher Peterson is an avid fan of all things relating to videogames, movies and television. He’s also a pretty awesome guy to know, just ask him. If you liked this post, check out all of his MyIGN blogs. For random thoughts follow @NerdEXP on Twitter.

If you’re a pessimist, Summer is dead. If you're an optimist, Summer lasts all year. If you’re a Hollywood executive, you don’t know when to release your movie. The trends are changing. Mega-explosion-action movies exist outside of summer. Oscar bait is no longer reserved for winter releases. America is continuing a downward spiral in movie consumption. Sequels are greenlight by the strength of their global presence. Cinematic adventures are adapting to the new landscape...and this is a great thing for fans.

Source: the-numbers.com

Summer 2014 is criticized as a soft season for the industry. Despite name brand sequels, like Transformers, Spider-Man and X-Men it is underperforming when compared to 2013. This doesn’t even take into account the expanded presence of 3D and inflation. Doom-and-gloom analysts would tell you that this is because of an increased usage in streaming, video games or quality television; that Hollywood is failing because of a lapse in desire to see cinematic adventures. As a highly respected armchair analyst myself, I say nay.

“

The age of “Summer Blockbusters” is over.

The current slate of movies aren’t that great. The market is straightening itself out. Anecdotally, my friends and I planned on seeing Transformers: Age of Extinction in theaters...until we discovered that it was two hours and fifty minutes. I’ll sit through a dumb action movie for an hour and a half, but not a Godfather length of time. Man-on-the-street reviews are swaying opinions and helping fans avoid trash.

Avengers: Age of Ultron and Episode VII are going to do gangbusters. The hype train is powered by an arc-reactor and jumping into hyper-speed. These movies will easily clear one billion dollars, and could dethrone Avatar as the reigning champion. These are universes that people are passionate to be involved in.

Jaws might have been the first Summer blockbuster and kicked off a marketing campaign to lure kids on vacation into theaters, but these epic movies have outgrown one season. The Lord of the Rings, Matrix and Harry Potter films released in the winter. What was once reserved for movies looking for an Oscar nod, now find themselves sharing the spotlight with sci-fi and action films.

Instead of piling the largest releases on top of each other, studios adjusted their strategy and distribute films throughout the year. After six episodes premiering in May, Star Wars will venture into a December release. Will it suffer? I doubt it!

Christopher Peterson is an avid fan of all things relating to videogames, movies and comics. He’s also a pretty awesome guy to know, just ask him. If you liked this post, check out all of his MyIGN blogs. For random thoughts follow @ChristaticGuy on Twitter.